hey everyone! I've been following this forum for some time and finally was accepted as a member a couple of months back and thought it was time to introduce myself. I've been into the hobby of prospecting for around about 6-8 months now. I live around hobart so unfortunately the closest gold is down south and as we all know is pretty hard to access.

I went to the PMAT trip to doctors rocks back in november so may have met a couple of you there. it was only my second outing where i'd found gold so i loved it up there. so far i've been up the westcoast and found a little gold in queenstown, down to the Weld where i found 1 tiny piece, over to the mainland for work but did quite well in a few creeks and more recently upto mathinna where i found a couple of flecks and about 30 tiny pieces which i've included in a photo. I'm really keen to have a bit of a pan around corinna way, as thick as it may be i feel a kayak would be a great option in getting up some of those rivers that you can't get to by car.

I do own a detector but have only found gold panning and crevicing. it's an AT-gold but i dont like using it too much because i feel it just isnt up for it... am thinking about purchasing an sdc2300 pretty soon.

I'm really loving this new hobby and am always looking for a buddy to go with so anyone thats ever going on any adventures give us a hoy because i'd love to come along!

I joined recently too, and am reading all the new and old posts with great interest.As a bit of an introduction, I am an exploration geologist (part-time), as well as a keen gemmologist, gem-facetor and jewellery-maker. In the last year or so, I have added prospecting to my list of interests - it meshes in well with the family as we all like to get out there and see what we can find, mostly with the gem sieves. Whilst having a geology background definitely helps with the prospecting, there are other skills that are just as important IMO, if not more, including perseverance, time/experience and reasoning. So, I am really a bit green in many ways as a prospector, but hope to change that given the wealth of knowledge of people on this forum etc.

I am heading up to the PMAT AGM tomorrow, I am just joining PMAT so haven't been on any field trips yet.Anyhow, hopefully we cross paths soon, also keen to go prospecting with some like-minded souls during the year,CheersLaurie

hey laurie,how was the PMAT AGM?? i had my cricket granny on the weekend (WE WON ) otherwise i wouldve joined. a geologist huh? that would be interesting. i'm sure if we combined forces we could certainly come up with some goodies! where abouts on the island are you from? and if you say zeehan i'll feel like an idiot haha. the season is almost over but i'm sure theres still some good gold to be found before the creeks and rivers are up again.whats everyone doing over Easter? its probably my next chance to get away...seems like no one really on here anymore as i struggle to get anyone to reply to anything but i'm really keen for any suggestions for a trip though thats for sure.take care Brendan

The recent PMAT AGM was a great day out (as drystone mentioned in another thread).After the official business was over, Ron mentioned that he was interested in obtaining any Tas sapphires people had lying around that were unsuitable for cutting due to poor clarity. He was going to do a bulk heat-treatment of the sapphires but in order to make it worthwhile for him, he needed a significant number of stones, more than he had access to currently.There was a general consensus that members would like to get together socially at times other than on the planned field trips and the AGM. It seems that many members are interested in getting to know other people better, particularly those from the same part of Tas as themselves (the Sth, West, NW, NE etc). I guess that is an important reason people join clubs for - the social aspect, and in the case of prospecting it is good to get a few like-minded people together for trips; share the knowledge and safer, too if you go bush. Miguel and most others were in favour of semi-regular informal pub evenings being organised in the respective regions. I am keen on the idea of one soon in Hobart somewhere, perhaps before Easter to organise a trip.Anyhow, the panning and fossicking at Lisle was fun after the AGM, I need some more practice with the Turbo Pan it seems, so different to a conventional pan. The mosquitoes were unbelievable, will remember the spray next time.Cheers,zzeehan(well, from Hobart actually- but spent a lot of time there)

very niiiice! i ventured down south on the weekend and found get stones which was exciting. pretty sure that they are smoky quartz. i'll get a photo tomorrow when i can be bothered venturing down to the shed. bought myself an sdc today so if that here by the weekend i'll certainly be out and about this weekend also, if anyones keen to come have a looksy hit me up!

did anyone find any gold up at lisle or is it more gemstones that ppl are finding up there? i take a backpack with me whenever i go and the main 2 thing i keep in abundance are sunscreen and insect repellent... you can only last so long without either in most places in the summer down here.

hi mids0n and zzeehan, welcome to the forum and prospecting in Tassie!The Lisle fieldtrip with PMAT was a good day out, (as were previous club expeditions), yes gold found by all, albeit fine and modest in volume, but easily panned and in a pleasant creek setting. A good family site. Not sure about gems: I didn't notice any, but plenty of black sands with blackjack. The Lisle basin has granite at shallow depth below and thus a chance of tin, spinel, sapphire, topaz.congrats on purchasing an SDC: perfect for Tassie conditions in my viewbest of luck,

Hi Guy's I am another newbie, My name is Bruce, and I have been following a number of sites and YouTube channels.Haven't had to much luck as yet so I guess that's why I am here. When not looking or thinking about hunting gold or gem stonesI am a full time Register nurse, based in Launceston.

hey drystone! great to hear the PMAT excursion was such a good mission. i'm up in launcestion for a few days for training and brought my prospecting gear and sdc (got here late last night.) I'm thinking of choofing off in the arvos to perhaps the lisle region and swinging the detector. is there anywhere maybe closesr that someone might suggest? am just starting to do some studying on geology and have learn granite is a good sign! well all the best and wish me luck. and batmaximus, if you get some free time over the next few days you could come along if you like? regards, mids0n

Hi mids0n,Good luck with your new detector, very envious of your new piece of kit. I understand the gold is very fine-grained generally around the Lisle alluvial field though, so detecting may be a bit of a tough proposition. Don't want to rain on your parade though, lol, but also don't want you to get too disappointed if you don't find anything much on your initial outings. Then again, you just never know...The Lisle field is pretty close to Launceston, so is the Lefroy Goldfield. It helps to do plenty of research beforehand to locate areas focussing on prospective lithologies, access tracks etc, whilst being aware of locations of any private property and leases/licences to seek permission first from owners and holders. There is lots of information and tips on how to get started with your research on various Tasmanian prospecting websites.Anyhow, happy detecting!

well after 6 hours spread across the last 2 nights, i found nada! didnt read about the flour gold in lisle until today (12 hours too late) so i tried my luck a little further north in tobacco creek today but still same, nothing. i panned a few colours to make sure that there was actually gold in the creek but using this SDC isnt as easy as i thought it would be... i never really know if i'm doing the detecting thing right, are you better to be in the creeks themselve or on the banks? i assume being here in tassie most of the nuggets big enough will be in the creeks but then again i have no idea. would LOVE to team up with someone that knows what they're doing to help me gain some confidence with my new toy...